among many corruption reports about english county this article also said the bold line..i dont know how much of this is true and to be honest this is the first time i heard a news like this..thought about sharing

Quote:

English cricket is being targeted by corrupt bookmakers on the Indian subcontinent who claim they can make huge sums of money by influencing matches.

International and county players are being used by the betting rings who are offering up to £750,000 to those who can guarantee the outcome of a match.

And match fixers are now turning their attention to domestic action in England because of the low levels of checks means county games are seen as soft touch.

But cricket's hard stance has not deterred the game's sinister elements from widening the net and recruiting players from all over the world to throw parts or all of international fixtures.

Undercover reporters working for The Sunday Times have revealed that batsmen can earn up to £44,000 for slow scoring and £50,000 for bowlers who concede runs in set patterns.

They have also revealed that corruption tainted last year’s World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan.

The reporters captured Vicky Seth, an influential Delhi bookmaker boasting of being able to influence Twenty20 internationals, Tests and Indian Premier League and Bangladesh Premier League matches.

He said: 'English county cricket is a good new market. They are low-profile matches and nobody monitors them.

'That's why good money can be made there without any hassle if we can get the players to play for us.'

The paper has passed the information gathered from their investigation to the International Cricket Council who have announced they will launch an investigation.

A spokesman said: 'We are grateful for the information you have provided and will launch an inquiry into these serious allegations.

'Betting on cricket in the legal and illegal markets continues to grow rapidly and with many, many millions of dollars being bet on every match, the threat of corrupters seeking to influence the game has not gone away.'